Jury: Man Abused Girl

Jimenez Found Guilty Of Hurting 3-year-old Deltona Child

October 15, 1999|By Purvette A. Bryant of The Sentinel Staff

DELAND - A Deltona man who told investigators he held a 3-year-old girl's head between his knees before dropping to the floor after she repeatedly asked him to stop was convicted Thursday of aggravated child abuse.

Robert Jimenez, 30, showed no emotion when a six-member jury returned its verdict in a DeLand courtroom. He faces up to 30 years in prison when sentenced Nov. 23 by Circuit Judge C. McFerrin Smith.

The case stunned police and child-welfare authorities who think Devin Banning suffered internal head injuries when Jimenez dropped her to the floor Aug. 5, 1998, in a wrestling move called a ``pile driver.''

In a tape-recorded statement played in court Thursday, Jimenez told a sheriff's investigator he was playing with Devin when he placed her upside down with her head between his knees. He wrapped his arms around her legs and feet then dropped his knees onto the floor.

``It was possible her head hit the ground,'' Jimenez said during the statement. ``But she didn't cry. ... I had her upside down. I had her body close to mine. That was an accident. I didn't mean to hurt the child.''

Jimenez, who showed no emotion when the verdict was read, was prepared to testify Thursday but chose not to at the last minute. The state rested its case Thursday morning and the defense in the afternoon.

Outside the courtroom, Assistant State Attorney Jim Dauksch said the verdict gave the victim and her family closure.

``We're fortunate to have a conviction,'' Dauksch said. ``It sends a strong message to Mr. Jimenez that the state's not going to tolerate the abuse of children.''

Before the verdict was reached, Tricia Banning, the girl's mother, said she would like to see Jimenez receive the maximum penalty.

Banning and Jimenez, who are no longer together, met on the Internet in 1998. At the time, Jimenez lived in New Jersey and Banning in Oregon. Banning said Jimenez drove from his home and showed up at her job one day without any notice.

He had money and wanted to take her out. The two began a whirlwind relationship. Banning took Devin from her parents' home in California and drove cross-country with Jimenez to Florida.

That's when Devin, Banning and Jimenez eventually stayed with Jimenez's aunt at 1825 Providence Blvd. in Deltona.

During closing arguments, Assistant Public Defender Rob Sanders blamed Jimenez's arrest on a sheriff's investigator who targeted Jimenez by using inaccurate information from a hospital nurse who said the girl's injuries were comparable to being in a head-on collision.

If Jimenez had dropped to his knees, slamming the girl's head into the floor, Sanders asked jurors, why weren't there any medical reports of neck injuries?

During closing arguments, Dauksch said Jimenez tried to hurt Devin. He held her in a wrestling maneuver knowing the child had a fractured leg, he said.

``How could a grown man put a child's head between his legs and simply drop it like an eggshell and break her head?'' Dauksch asked the jury. The injuries were so severe, he said, that Devin had to be airlifted twice to hospitals.

Regarding Jimenez's contention that he meant no harm, Dauksch said, ``How could he not know?''